Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has a warning for soccer fans and officials: the U.S. isn't as ready as it should be for the World Cup. After a 76-day funding lapse at the Department of Homeland Security, security preparations have slowed to a crawl, and the clock is ticking.

Speaking at a Kansas City briefing on Saturday, Mullin laid out the problem plainly. “We haven't been able to be as proactive on putting those positions–those safety measures in place, and the first match is June 11,” he said. “The first one in the U.S. is in L.A., June 12. That is around the corner. We have so much work to do.”

Kansas City is set to host six matches between June 16 and July 11. Mullin insisted DHS “can still deliver,” but added that the security posture is “in jeopardy.”

Also at the briefing, Rep. Mark Alford (R-Kan.) framed the issue as bigger than politics. “Robust immigration enforcement is not a political issue,” he said, calling it a “national security imperative.” He criticized the political fights over DHS funding that have left security operations in limbo.

The funding lapse isn't just slowing planning—it's creating a hiring bottleneck at the Transportation Security Administration. In March testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee, TSA acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill warned that even if hiring resumed immediately, new officers wouldn't be ready in time. “Even if TSA were to hire new officers upon conclusion of the DHS shutdown, those officers would not be able to work on the checkpoint until well after the World Cup has concluded,” she said.

With the first match just over a month away, the margin for error is shrinking fast.